Burkina Faso

Abstract

Formerly known as Upper Volta, the country’s name was changed in 1984 to Burkina Faso, meaning ’the land of honest men’. The area it covers was settled by farming communities until an invasion by the Mossi people in the 11th century. The Mossi successfully resisted Islamic crusades and attacks by neighbouring empires for seven centuries until conquered by the French between 1895 and 1903.